First Japan tsunami debris confirmed in California
27 April AFP
A Japanese fishing boat washed across the Pacific following the 2011
tsunami has been confirmed as the first piece of debris to reach the
coast of California, officials said .
The 20-foot (six-metre) skiff, found this month near the northern
Californian coastal town of Crescent City, belonged to the Takata High
School in the Japanese city of Rikuzentakata, in Iwate Prefecture.
Japan's consulate in San Francisco helped the US National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration confirm where the boat came from, after it
was spotted washed up on a local beach.
The boat was covered in pelagic gooseneck barnacles. Experts at
California's Humboldt State University also helped to identify it, said
NOAA spokeswoman Keeley Belva. The vessel is the 27th item of debris so
far confirmed on the US West Coast, and the first in California. Other
items have been found washed up in the states of Alaska, Washington and
Oregon further up the coast.
|